When I was in grade school we lived near the arboretum in Madison, WI.  My “backyard” was a huge nature preserve and I had unlimited places and creatures to explore.  One source of amusement was a big oak tree that had fallen over.  It was there that I would meet my first snake.  A Garter snake.  There always seemed to be lots of snakes around that tree and I had no problem picking them up and playing with them.  I'm not so sure how they felt about it but clearly I was not afraid.  Had they been … [Read more...]